


Hello, My Name is Janus

by TypicallyUntypical



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28421301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TypicallyUntypical/pseuds/TypicallyUntypical
Summary: Janus only got the chance to write to his soulmates once, and it wasn't even a full sentence. Then, he was separated from them for what he thought would be forever. The powers that be were not going to let him go without his missing pieces forever.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45
Collections: Untypicals Sanders Sides One Shots





	1. Hello, My Name is...

A very long time ago, when the gods were still young, Aphrodite grew irritated with the fact that people who belonged together never seemed to find each other. They would settle for people who were close but not perfect, or, even worse, they would end up with people who were toxic instead of supportive. In her frustration, she gifted humanity with the ability to communicate with their soulmates allowing anything they wrote on their right arm to show up on their match's skin. At least, that is how the legend went.

Janus wasn't sure if he believed in the goddess of love, but he knew he believed in soulmates, and he knew he would never get the chance to meet his.

When Janus was 6 the first mark appeared, just a mark, and a bit of an accident, but he marveled at the warmth he felt as it appeared on his skin. His parents had explained what soulmates were and what was happening. He was only six yet he understood that his other would be so precious and so important to him. A smile covered his face, as the words crossed his arm.

'Hi, I'm Patton!' Eagerly he went to grab for a marker to reply when a second set of writing appeared.

'I'm V.'

Wait, there were two! His eyes filled with excitement for a brief moment before his mother grabbed his arm, staring down at the two different sets of writing. Her grip hurt and he looked up at her scared before she muttered.

"Never respond to them, got it?"

Why shouldn't he respond? Was it bad that there were two? He slowly nodded his head, looking up at his mother with fear. He had never been afraid of her before, his mother had always been sweet and kind but there was something in her eyes.

Janus didn't respond. He wanted to be good for his mother; he wanted to keep her happy. That didn't last though. When his father left, when his mother started working more, when Janus was in his second year of high school, he was lonely. He wanted to know. He pulled out a gold pen, hesitating as he sat on the couch. The two always seemed happy together, would they be okay with having another person? It didn't matter, he just didn't want to be alone.

'Hello, my name is-'

He didn't get to finish as his mother returned home early, the smile on her face fading as she saw her son sitting on the couch with his sleeve rolled up and a pen in his hand. Her face turned angry, the same anger he had seen as a kid and Janus immediately began to apologizing, lying to her saying he was just reading it, trying to find any combination of words that would get him out of this situation.

Nothing did.

That night he limped down the street to his only friend's house, holding his burnt and blistered arm. He was in so much pain, he could barely stand. Roman caught him, calling his mother before Janus blacked out. That was one of the worst days of his life.

His mother was arrested, Janus was put into foster care for the few years he had left before his 18th birthday. He was a teenager and he was damaged. He aged out.

Things didn't get better. For a long time, he was on the street, having been moved away from Roman a long time ago. He had no family, he had no friends, he learned to fight on his own. Eventually, he conned his way into a job, smiled, lied, and worked hard. It was just a job at a coffee shop, nothing important, nothing special, but it was enough to live on.

He allowed his past to fade away from him, allowed himself to ignore it. He did a good job. Janus blocked out the memories, pushed away his insecurities, and never looked back at his arm. The skin was damaged, it could never be read, he had lost his connection.

"And can I get a name for the order?" Janus pulled out a cup to write on it, just another day.

"Oh, of course, my name is Patton, and the other one is for Virgil."

'Hi, I'm Patton!'

'I'm V.'

He kept the fake smile on his face, forcing his body to ignore the burning of his soul. Janus wrote down the names and passed the cups along.

"Will that be all?"

"Yep!"

"That will be $6.47."

Patton pulled out the cash, handing it over to Janus with a smile as Janus finished their transaction. Janus continued with his fake smile, handing over the change. Virgil and Patton, they were right here, but he had lost the right to them a long time ago.

**((AN: You all are lucky that this is Fluffuary, I was going to leave it at that.))**

But Aphrodite did not like to be ignored.

Virgil and Patton started coming into the cafe every day, switching between who was going to order. Janus did his best to keep on his fake customer service smile but it was beginning to slip. Patton was kind, caring, always making sure that his words were carefully chosen so that he didn't hurt anyone's feelings. Virgil was sarcastic and snarky. Janus hated that he was falling for both of them.

"Your total is $6.47." He repeated this for what felt like the hundredth time, though it had only been a few months.

"So, what is your real name?" Janus wore a different name tag every day, it was one of the small joys he got from working this job.

"Not going to happen." He teased.

"It was worth a shot." Virgil huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets as Janus steamed the milk. "Mind if I ask you a different, more personal question?" There was no one else in the shop other than the three of them. Patton was sitting, kicking his feet at one of the booths as he waited for Virgil.

Janus just shrugged. "Can't promise I'm going to give you an answer, but considering how nervous you look, I'm going to guess it's about the scars or soulmates."

Virgil swallowed before shrugging. "Both, I guess. You are still wearing long sleeves despite the weather getting warmer. Which is fine if that's what you wanna do, I mean, I can't say much since I still wear my hoodie, but I was wondering if the scars go all the way down to your arm."

"They do."

"But you've never talked about a soulmate, so how long?"

"You'll have to be more specific Virgil, how long what?"

"How long have you had the scars? Did you ever get a chance to meet your soulmate?"

Janus handed over the coffee. "Another time."

Virgil frowned but nodded, walking away. Patton smiled, that adorable happy smile that Patton always got when he saw the extra whipped cream on in his cup. Janus couldn't help but grab at his arm gently before going to clean up the bar. They were happy together, that was enough. It should have been enough.

Any time Virgil brought up his question, Janus avoided it, finding new and clever ways to skirt around the truth, but after a week, on a particularly hot day, Patton came up to the counter and ordered their usuals. Janus was too preoccupied looking at Patton's arm though.

"Patton... what is that on your arm?" He asked, pointing to the tattoo on his right arm.

"Oh," Patton gave him a sad smile, "Virgil and I have a third soulmate, but we don't know who they are. We only saw them write to us once, and they didn't finish their sentence. So after a long time, Virgil and I decided to get this tattooed on our arms."

Patton turned his arm to show it better to Janus. Written in a gradient of Patton's signature blue and Virgil's typical Purple were the words.

_'You aren't alone, we are here.'_

No one had been there for him. Roman had helped but his family couldn't take him in. Janus' mother had loved him but it had always come with strings. His father had outright left, but there were two people who cared even though they had never even met him. He had written to them once and it wasn't even a complete sentence.

Janus couldn't fight back the tears that were sliding down his face. He reached out his hand for Patton to take. Patton took it, obviously a bit confused.

"It was supposed to say. Hello, my name is Janus." Patton's confusion slowly slipped away as his eyes grew wide, he looked down at Janus' arm, still covered in long sleeves before turning to look at Janus' face.

"Wh... what?" He sputtered, Virgil, walking up to the two of them.

"Hey, what's going on?" His voice was soft and gentle.

"Janus, your name is Janus, his name is Janus." Patton let go of Janus' hand to shake Virgil gently.

"Patton, why is that important?"

"No, Virgil!" Patton let go and pointed to his arm repeating, "His name is Janus!"

"I get off at 7 tonight if you want to talk about this more." Janus had finally regained his composure, though his eyes were still bloodshot from crying.

"Yeah, I think that would be good." Virgil obviously looked confused still but Janus went to prepare their drinks, not bothering to charge them this time. He was nervous about talking to them about all of this, but he had made them wait so long for him. He didn't want to keep them waiting.


	2. I'm here

Despite the warm weather of summer, Janus adjusted his hat, taking in a slow breath. He was prepared for the worst-case scenarios because that was the best way to protect his heart. Patton and Virgil had walked away after drinking their coffee, promising to be back later, but he had heard broken promises before. He wouldn’t allow himself to be fooled again, but these were his soulmates.

Janus ran his hand over his arm, closing his eyes, attempting not to look down at his watch as he waited for the two of them. He had gotten off a bit ago, but they had not shown up yet. He was about ready to head home when he heard feet running towards him.

“Hey.” Janus would never admit how much that deep gravelly voice affected him. Every tense muscle relaxed as he opened his eyes back up, looking at Virgil and Patton. Apparently, the slight delay had been because Patton had gone to get flowers.

“Here, these are for you.” His heart skipped a beat, no one had ever given him flowers before, and here Patton was, casually passing the flowers his way. He fought back a smile.

“Ah yes, decapitated flowers.” He couldn’t help the sarcastic remark, it was his nature. He hated how it affected Patton though, his smile fell and his eyes were a little misted.

“I can take them back.”

“No!” Janus held them closer, fighting back his blush of embarrassment. “I mean… It is customary to bring something to a first date with soulmates, right? Though it seems I am caught empty-handed.” His grip loosened on the flowers a little bit before a thought came to his mind. He took one of the daisies in the bouquet, cutting the stem much smaller with his fingernail. He hesitated before tucking it behind Patton’s ear.

“There, a flower for a handsome man.”

Patton giggled, taking one of Janus’ hands in his own. That was much better, a smile sited his face much more. “Can we take you out for dinner? Is that moving too fast?”

“Dinner sounds good.” He was going to melt if this man kept being so adorable. Why had he resisted this for so long? The worries entered his head, unlovable, not wanted, damaged, but they all disappeared as Virgil grabbed his other hand. Patton’s hand was soft and gentle, well moisturized, and comforting. Virgil’s hands had texture, calloused, dried skin, but warm and protective.

“Hopefully, you don’t mind Indian food.”

Janus traced over the dried flower, pressed carefully between the pages. To this day, he still loved Indian food more than was probably normal, but it brought back memories of their first date. The first time Janus dared to let himself believe that he was loved. “What are you looking at, Jani?” Patton draped his arms around his husband’s shoulders, kissing him gently on the cheek.

“The memory book you created for our first date.”

“Oh wow, that was so long ago, but I still remember it like yesterday. We were so glad to finally find you and so nervous.”

“You were nervous,” Janus scoffed, “Imagine how I felt sugar drop. You two had an established relationship, and here I was, a damaged barista-”

“Hey, no, you aren’t allowed to talk about yourself like that. You aren’t damaged. You had a few scars, physical and emotional, but you weren’t damaged. You are ours.”

“I heard Patton’s tone,” Virgil came walking in. “You talkin bad about yourself again.” He didn’t even wait for a response as he flopped onto the couch, his head in Janus’ lap. “You know he doesn’t like that.”

“How could I forget?” Janus rolled his eyes, but there was a fond smile on his lips. “Is this my punishment for self-deprecation? Love and cuddles?”

“Yes!” Patton pulled him into a deeper hug, the back of the couch separating them. “You deserve all of the love and cuddles.”

“You think everything deserves love and cuddles,” Janus said, rolling his eyes, but leaning into Patton’s embrace.

“That’s not true.” Patton was pouting, but Janus couldn’t help but smile. That was correct. Patton didn’t love everyone. It was hard to make his husband angry, and Janus had only ever seen that anger directed at two people before, his own parents. Patton’s fury had been strangely comforting, watching someone get angry on his behalf rather than at him. It had also been terrifying, watching someone so soft and gentle become angry and near-violent. It had scared Janus, and it had been hard to handle. The conflicting feelings had been what pushed the three of them to get couples therapy, and eventually, all three of them also got their own therapists, just to help manage the things that they had all been through, being forcefully separated from one another, not knowing why Janus had stopped talking to them for so many years.

Janus let out a sigh, as he felt Patton remove the hat from his head, running his fingers through Janus’ hair.

“I love you,” Janus whispered, relaxing into the couch.

“We love you too,” Virgil said, looking up at Janus.

“Yeah, we love you so much.” He looked at Patton’s arm as he was held, the tattoo still there to remind him ‘You aren’t alone, we are here.’

Janus’ looked down at his own hand, the one without the scars, and the light script that read, ‘I’m here.’

Janus relaxed, his eyes closed. He never thought that he would get this, but here he was, surrounded by love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the first half of this story as apart of Fluffuary 2020, but my friend requested I write a second half to it! So I'm here to deliver. Check out Ali6ce and her amazing work! https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ali6ce and if you would like you can check out my discord. We are still a very small group so we would love to have you there! https://discord.gg/3bP9mYbhje


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